penworks

Maybe, just maybe......twi would have faired much better WITHOUT the corps program.

Mmm...raises an interesting scenario. What if there had been no Corps? VPW's influence would have been weaker, yes, that's a good thing, IMO. Maybe his little cult would have been a bigger flop and not hurt so many people. On the other hand, hurting even one person was one person too many.

Perhaps some of us want to think over this question: would the world would be a better place if twi had not existed at all? Or perhaps it does no good to raise hypothetical questions like that. The fact is we're stuck with what happened. We're tasked with sorting out the good from the bad and the ugly.

Cheers!

Something else to consider is the seventh session of PFAL, the one that deals with Eve being tricked by the serpent. According to Wierwille, Eve's first mistake was allowing herself to consider what the serpent was presenting. The lesson in this, Wierwille implied, was that we must never allow ourselves to give thoughtful consideration to viewpoints that might contradict "The Word" (read: Way Theology).....STAND!! Never allow yourself to be talked out of PFAL-centric doctrine.

It's no wonder Wayfers are so intellectually stubborn.

Yes, and it's no wonder it took some of us so long to break the "don't question VP" barrier and leave TWI. One thing VP was right about--fear is sand in the machinery of life. He sure knew how to muck up the "machinery" with his fear tactics. I've found that life is not really like a machine, though. It's a mystery.

I went back to TWI because I didn't like the boring structure of a regular church and I thought I could change TWI from the inside. (Silly old bear) Change it by being a part of it. A rebirth through love.

But at every turn, in quiet conversations, people confess how they've "stood" through betrayal after betrayal, all without justice or a request for their forgiveness.

Perhaps some people are tied to TWI because they were taught (as I was) that if I left TWI, I would "circle the drain" spiritually.

Weren't so many of us conditioned to believe that we would be stripped of God's mercy, favor, glory and abundance if we abandoned TWI?

It wasn't until I realized I needed to change my idea of what "God" was that I could see past the ridiculous fear that motivated me to stay in TWI. Then I could leave it. Seems to me that TWI created a god that fit VPW's ideas. Not the other way around. Perhaps that is true for lots of churches, too. You say you were bored by the "structure of a regular church," so that makes me wonder what the value of such structures really is. Seems like the value is emotional support, but I've yet to feel comfy in a church either, so all I can say is good luck in your quest...

"Moving the Word" to me was a cool kind of hippy Christian concept of helping God, doing Bible studies and inviting other people.

Of course, as they say, the devil is in the details. :evilshades:/>

When it turns into a managed sales quota, mandatory witnessing times, door to door sales, and "vision and direction" layers of control and reporting, then the meaning is something else altogether.

Helping God? How ridiculous that we thought we could "help" whatever God really is...

It is never wrong to expose an abuser, a predator and a fake. It's a moral outrage to remain silent.

For a number of years, this was the website to come to for cult recovery from the Way International...for many reasons it has ebbed and diminished in recent years...probably because TWI has ebbed and diminished greatly...however...if there are still any folks who need help...if you are still involved with twi or are having a hard time since you left twi...I am still willing to help you. Just let me know...I am willing to talk with you, pray with you, explain things to you...whatever you need. Twi is an insidious cult that harms people greatly...but there are solutions to the problems you face if you are still being effected by this cult...leave me a message if you want and I will be glad to talk to you and help you. Life after twi is GREAT!

I'm here for that purpose, too. And to shed light on any issues I witnessed during my time in TWI and things I've learned since.

Cheers,

Charlene

I was glad to be a smoker then, as it gave me that moment to get up, kind of nod this way and that and work my way out of that hay baled sweltering humidified box of canvas tenting and get out to the muggy August air and share some healthy tobacco exhalant.

You crack me up, Socks. Makes me wish I had been a smoker. BUT the truth is I didn't even go inside the tent that year...played hookey. Was moving my Aramaic books out of the Research room and into my garage...got "reassigned" to Multi Services from the Research Dept. to wash cars, like the already clean car of a certain wife of a certain Pres. of dah wey.

So it goes. Glad it's gone. Those days are over. Now on to other projects like speaking up for freedom of expression. A constitutional "right" that wasn't honored at The Way. TWI was (still is) a sub-culture of repression in a county that allows such sub-cultures to repress, because even the likes of TWI is allowed freedom of expression. Ironic, isn't it? An uphill battle all the way...keep on speaking up. Maybe someone will hear...TWI is a group that suffocates individuals' efforts to express what they think and write what they want. It's a CLOSED system of absolutist ideology. Yes, that repression exists in Fundamentalist Christianity, not only in Fundamentalism of other religions.

Cheers,

Penworks

I just had a quick look at the Peace Corps website and they have three mission statements, none of which resembles the WC principles. Not to say they haven't changed their mission statement or whatever. The text of their early newsletters, without being at all the same, has a not unfamiliar feel about it...

Peace Corps started in 1960; when was the first WC intake?

You might have something there, Penworks.

Excie, you'd have been a lot better off...

But who knows what other "adventures" and persuasive overseers you might have had?

The first corps group (the Zero Corps which was sent home before their first year ended) came to HQ in 1969.

The official First Corps came to HQ in fall of 1970. I don't know whether they fiiled out an application form or not.

The Second Corps (the group I was with) began the fall of 1971. I had to fill out that form which was said to be based on the P.C. form.

So then, so far no further forward apart from a pervading idea that they were borrowed from somewhere else. But where? :spy:/>/>

I'm not sure where the principles came from but I know they did not exist until AFTER those of in the 2nd Corps entered the program. I remember this so clearly because one of the other girls told me she didn't know we were signing up to "go forth as leaders and workers" after the program. She had come in the Corps just to get the training and knowledge. AND I know VPW told another girl that it was just a two year commitment, not a LIFETIME deal.

I can tell you I heard from a reliable source back in 1971 that the application we filled out to enter the Corps program was based on the one for the Peace Corps. Maybe VPW modified their goals somehow and reworded them to come up with the ones for us. Who knows...

Ok, had to spoof Wierwille.

GSC is still very relevant, even though the way international has lost relevancy. Before I left the way, I lurked here for several years. The information on this site helped peel layers of denial away, as I kept coming back and reading more. After leaving TWI, I decided to start posting what I had been exposed to from my time in the way corps, coordinating a department, and being on the cabinet for a very short stint. Even though much of what I posted is boring and corporate in nature, (almost as boring as Rosalie) I can only hope the contribution goes to expose the whited sepulcher the way international has become.

I think it's up to everyone to contribute if there is something to say. If not, do what you can to stay active and keep GSC going.

Wordwolf, I look forward to your posts.

Just want to thank you, OldSkool and many others, for the info you've posted here about the more recent version of TWI. I find it helpful for several reasons. People ask me whether TWI still exists and what their influence might still be. Info here helps me answer those questions.

Plus, just today I received a phone call from a former TWI person I knew long ago who recently read my Affinity for WIndows story at this site and would like to talk with me about it. Many thanks to Pawtucket for keeping it available.

I plan to post things again when the time is right for me.

Cheers,

Penworks

But THIS is wierwille at his charming best. That's how he got rich, charming the socks off of believers. Well, the dollars out of their wallets anyway.

Exactly. If he had been an out-front monster, we would have run in the opposite direction (I would hope!). I'm reminded of those TV commercials trying to sell us drugs with hideous side effects. The ad depicts smiling people doing everday tasks. The voice over sounds like your dearest friend. The voice tells us a litany of ghastly side effects but the ad makers are counting on our being distracted by the fun-loving, often beautiful, healthy looking people we assume are taking the drug, so we miss listening closely to the gravity of the side effects, "on rare occasions, even death."

penworks.......thanks.

As you well know, there are so many considerations in such an undertaking. How one approaches all these logistics

are, seemingly, multi-layered. Yes, it would be my story.......but then, my wife (before we were married) had her

story of involvement......of which, when married, gave me accumulative background understanding of plenty of other

hypocrisies.

For example: When my wife was inrez corps and hitch-hiked to TFI (Total Fitness Institute in California ---- the

forerunner of LEAD)........her partner was Craig Martindale. When they got to a truckstop outside the city limits

of Oklahoma City, she found a trucker who would give them a ride.....and, just then, Craig snagged a ride as well.

In deciding what to do, Craig told her, "I'll take my ride and you take yours. I'll see you in California."

Craig Martindale abandoned his hitch-hiking partner, a woman........and away he went.

Years later, as Corps Director.....Martindale's policies for the corps was to NEVER abandon your partner!

Outrageous! Unimaginable. What a horrible mess...

One thing about our stories is to ask ourselves, who is the audience we want to address? Many issues are settled after we decide on that. Also, do you want to write a personal history or a memoir? They are different.

I suggest reading: Writing the Memoir by Judith Barrington. There are other helpful books out there to guide us, too, like, Your Life as Story by Tristine Rainer.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Skyrider,

If you want to write your book, do it. Yes, there are many considerations about going public, but there are people who want to hear our stories. Who need our stories. If you feel you can put yourself out there, that you are coming from a good place, not a place of revenge for instance, let it rip. People respect that.

I can say this about the embarrassment aspect: It's a matter of trust. I began confessing to being in a cult gradually with people I had gotten to know. They already knew a healed version of me before they learned what I'd been through. Most of them were aghast but very curious and loved me for surviving. Most understood I had had a hard time and had learned things they will never have a chance to find out without stories from people like me.

The people I've talked to are fascinated and want to understand it all. They respect the fact I left. They see I'm "normal" and wonder how I got in, how I left, how I sorted things out, how I rebuilt my life. So keep writing if you feel compelled to do it, and I think you do. The writing saves us. The writing is important. Our lives matter.

Love to you and cheers to your endeavors,

Charlene

So many of the links seem to be "coming soon".

I think the only "new" thing is the copyright notice.. copyright 2012.

For anyone reading here who is not familiar with what TWI used to do in their so-called Biblical research efforts, this is a repeat of the failed efforts of TWI:

"The basis for all our efforts is the Bible, which we believe to be the Word of God, perfect in its original writing. So-called errors, contradictions, or discrepancies are the result of man’s subsequent interference in the translation or transmission of the text, or his failure to understand what is written.Spirit & Truth Fellowship International draws from all relevant sources that shed light on the integrity of Scripture, such as geography, customs, language, history, and principles governing Bible interpretation. We seek the truth without respect to tradition, “orthodoxy,” or popular trends and teachings."

Buyer beware.

Rest in peace, Bernita. You did so much to help me and teach me. I'll never forget you.

What a shock - I just learned about this yesterday. Some of you know I worked with Bernita many years on Aramaic projects. She was a determined woman and a sometimes funny lady. I remember more than once, in a "research seminar" VPW would be saying The Word just had to mean something or other, based on some interpretation of a Greek word. You'd hear Bernita say, "Well, you can't prove that by the Aramaic, I just want you to know!" I think she was the only person who ever got away with that!

I, too, knew Pat from California 1973 and 1974 when she worked in the Limb office. Sorry to learn of her passing away, and the troubles beforehand. She was a good hearted person.

For those who want to grow up and pursue more education......disdain SECULAR education.

What could go wrong?

One caveat: secular education was encouraged for some, for instance many at East Carolina Univ. who lived in The Way Home trying to immitate the Corps program. BUT the purpose of getting it was only to use it for the benefit of TWI, i.e. an accounting degree or business degree AND ALSO that unbelievers would have more respect for us, given we had a college education. The idea was the education would give us a chance to witness to educated people like business leaders and politicians who would not consider us just ignorant kids obsessed with the Bible, but intellligent educated folks. Ha!

Then, there were those who were encouraged to get degrees in biblical languages to "help in biblical research." Ha again.

Plenty went wrong with both...

I knew him back in the day (early 1980s) when he was in Florida as limb leader but actually met him much earlier than that when he first got into TWI in NC. He passed away a few years ago and I understand that his older daughter is the one running this group.

Many of us were seeking "power" via SIT, Prophecy, Revelation, etc to launch us to mogdom, wealth, & celebrity, when we should have been seeking true charity.

Oh yeah...charity. The greatest of these...how far away from it we often roamed while searching for power over every blasted situation, "unbeliever," etc. etc.

I'm reminded of the old guru story that goes something like this: The seeker asks the guru how to have more power. The guru asks: "Why do you seek power? What are you afraid of?"

If you can't trust the scriptures to work, inspire, have an effect the same way for us today as they did for first century believers, then what is the point of even reading the Bible at all? For entertainment, as nice little stories, like "Aesop's Fables" or "Grimm's Fairy Tales" ???

For me, yes, sometimes.

If they wanted to tell the truth they should have modified it to say: "The Way International does not support or engage in the slander of any individual, group, or country as an official position. However, as an unofficial position and actual practice, we absolutely slander almost everyone we can think of. Since we teach an elitist Christian attitude, we ensure that slander is spread out evenly among all ethnic and religious backgrounds. However, we reserve the greatest slander and shunning practices for those that have endured our BS for years and then left."

You said so well what I thought.

On the official web site of The Way International, I thought it was interesting they felt they had to make a statement disclaiming any affiliation with the Way T.V. that apparently produced that awful video recently that is being used to inflame the Middle East.

http://www.theway.org/topic.php?page=about&lang=en

What do you guys think of this statement on that web page?

"The Way International does not support or engage in the slander of any individual, group, or country."

On nooooooo, it's bringing back memories! Gotta go home and make some coffee with the old grounds and then chew on a styrophome cup.

Talk about bringing back memories...just saw the movie, The Master. Great performances but the movie went on a little too long. Maybe that was just me. Hoffman's depiction of a controling cult leader (only without a Bible) was well done. But I got the shivers when he smoked Kools and rode a motorcycle.

Worth seeing, but only If you are ready to put yourself through some emotional stuff again...not sure I was. Didn't get much sleep last night. And I left TWI twenty-five years ago!

Actually, it looks like you are already working on the book whether you know it or not. You have a rough outline already set forth.

You've been writing early drafts of various aspects of it on GSC for some time.

You might be surprised how natural it comes out from here.

...So, my encouragement to you is -- WRITE. Write YOUR story. It's a book that needs to be written.

You will be better for it. And as the proverb (Prov 18:16) says, A man's gift makes room for him.

Those who need to know your story will find it.

Ditto!

Reproof got a bad rap because of how TWI did it. It should not. It's a good thing. It makes us all better people when done right.

Pick a word that's less insulting to you. I don't think anyone "lied" per se. I think we kidded ourselves out of a sincere hunger for the things of God and a considerable amount of peer pressure to manifest. I think Samarin described that well.

I would say that you described my experience as well.

First, I'll repeat: lying is an ugly, ugly word. As I used it, it had the effect of starting this whole conversation, immediately, in rather stark, absolute terms. I don't think of myself as a liar, and certainly didn't think of it then. But there was always little niggling thoughts in the back of my head: You KNOW this is just you. You know that interpretation bore no relationship to what you just spoke. You know you made up that prophecy.

I keep using the words communal self delusion (since someone asked) because it's so vividly descriptive of what happened. It wasn't just that I fooled myself. It's that I fooled myself within the loving embrace of a community of people who had done exactly the same thing. And we embraced each other and it bound us. It helped cement us into a family. It wasn't just "God" or "Church." It was "Wow. We have done something pretty amazing. God's AWESOME."

I intend no assigning of malice to anyone who did this. I did it out of a sincere hunger and desire to spread the message of God. I WANTED it to be real. But when I look in the mirror, I realize it wasn't.

The rest is kind of a leap. I know I'm not alone in what I did. And I want others who did it to realize it's ok.

Because it is.

Thanks, Raf. I understand.